Antonis Tsapatakis, Paralympic bronze medallist in Tokyo and silver medallist in Paris. Photo: @tsapatakis_a / Instagram

Antonis Tsapatakis: From a Life-Changing Crash to Paralympic Silver

by · Greek City Times

“I do not care if I walk again, what matters is that I am alive.” Few Greek athletes have proved that attitude like Antonis Tsapatakis, the para swimmer from Chania who went from a life-changing accident to the Paralympic podium.

From Chania’s pool to the police academy

Born in 1988, Tsapatakis started swimming at the public pool in Chania, Crete, at the age of five. By 12 he was playing water polo for the Chania Nautical Club and winning awards in both sports. In 2005 he joined the Hellenic Police Academy.

The accident

In December 2006, just outside the pool where he had spent half his life, he lost control of his motorcycle. The crash left him paralysed from the waist down.

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“I do not remember much at all from the day of the accident. My memory has erased it all, obviously because of the shock,” he said. “The doctor who performed the operation on me was the one who told me that I will need to use a wheelchair to move from now on. The doctor was cynical with me, but in the end, I think it had to be that way. His purpose was to make me accept my new situation.”

Less than nine months later he was back in the water. “What drove me back to swimming was the need to be independent. After a year of training I felt right at home again in the swimming pool,” he said. In 2009 he began racing for Megalonisos, a Cretan sports club for athletes with disabilities.

Building a career

He specialises in the 100m breaststroke SB4. He finished fourth in that event at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympics. In between, at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, he set a European record of 1:36.75 on his way to silver.

“I set two pan-European records on the same day, one in the 50m breaststroke and one in the 100m breaststroke. I reached the final and came second in the world championship,” he recalled.

Medals at last

His Paris silver was part of Greece’s 13-medal haul at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

Back in uniform

After the accident, the rules stopped him from serving as a police officer. “In 2006, after the accident, I could no longer work for the Police because the rules require officers to be able-bodied. The dream to put on the police uniform again lasted 11 whole years,” he said.

In 2017 he put the uniform back on in the Hellenic Police sports service. “I am really proud of that because I did it alone, without anyone’s help, without the mediation of anyone. My inspiration was the idea itself and the belief in myself.”

“Because of my Paralympic and world achievements in swimming, I have proved to myself and to everyone that the struggle for the realisation of our dreams is won only by a means that never fails. The name of this means is ‘SOUL’,” he said. “In every challenge that I face, I never think that I cannot do it, instead I always ask myself why not do it?”

In his own words

Talking about how the accident shaped his character, he said: “The character of each person is built from the education he receives from his home and from the situations he experiences growing up. So, the accident played this role too, but the strength and perseverance I had learned from a young age were what kept me upright.”

“Those around us also influence who we are and that is why we should choose them very carefully. We must make sure we have people by our side who influence us positively, people who want us to evolve.”

On walking again, he said: “I have definitely dreamed of the day I could walk again. They say that if dreams are beautiful and you like them, you should pursue them, try to make them come true. I will definitely try for this dream of mine, as well as for the others, however, not to walk again does not matter so much, what matters is that I live, so all is well.”

He has also spoken at TEDx events and at the University of Crete. “In all my speeches, the only thing I want to show is that no matter what happens in our lives, we can still dream.”

“I was a very lively child. At 18 I was terribly unruly, I was actually so vain that a bad moment had to happen to make me understand and realise who I was. All the lights were on me. I was a good athlete with distinctions, a nice kid, with girls chasing me, cars, money, and I thought all of that was important in life, until at some point I fell. I fell into darkness. Imagine it as the bottom of the sea. An absolute darkness without anything. And then, through the accident I realised that in life what’s most important is to have few good things that matter to you.”

Sources: Interview with Antonis Tsapatakis, My Little Stories: https://mylittlestories.gr/%ce%b4%ce%b5%ce%bd-%ce%bc%ce%b5-%ce%bd%ce%bf%ce%b9%ce%ac%ce%b6%ce%b5%ce%b9-%ce%b1%ce%bd-%ce%b8%ce%b1-%cf%80%ce%b5%cf%81%cf%80%ce%b1%cf%84%ce%ae%cf%83%cf%89-%ce%be%ce%b1%ce%bd%ce%ac-%cf%83%ce%b7/; International Paralympic Committee athlete profile: https://www.paralympic.org/athletes/antonios-tsapatakis; Wikipedia, Antonios Tsapatakis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonios_Tsapatakis.

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